Baltimore Orioles Have A Playoff Lineup

The Baltimore Orioles have made some moves during the offseason that any fan should be happy with.

They went and signed catcher Wellington Castillo to a one-year deal, worth seven million dollars. With this move, the Orioles effectively replaced Matt Wieters‘ bat in the lineup. Castillo has a career slash line of .255/.318/.416 in comparison to Wieters’ slash line of .256/.318/.421. Not bad.

Baltimore also trimmed some of the back end of their rotation by trading the much-maligned Yovani Gallardo to the Seattle Mariners for outfielder Seth Smith. The 34-year old outfielder has a career slash line of .261/.344/.447. His on-base percentage of .342 in 2016 would’ve been the highest on the Orioles, had he played in Baltimore during that time. Smith has been a really good defender throughout his career. His defense is an upgrade over Mark Trumbo‘s glove in the outfield.

Speaking of that Trumbo guy, they brought him back as well. Trumbo was the home run king of Major League Baseball in 2016. He belted 47 homers in last season and made it to his second All-Star Game.

It was previously unclear as to how the Orioles would sign him because of his high asking price. Once the Orioles freed up some money when they traded Gallardo, as well as the market for designated hitters being set by Edwin Encarnacion, the Orioles were willing to bring Trumbo back on a cheaper deal. He will receive a three-year/$37.5 million deal.

These two lineups give the Orioles the best chance to win right now. Kim and Rickard have good on-base numbers and that allows them to set the table for both lineups. Jones, Schoop, Machado, and Smith are the players that can drive them in with doubles or singles and then you have your big boppers in Davis and Trumbo. Don’t forget about those solid guys at the bottom of the order in Castillo, Mancini and Hardy.

This lineup is much better than the one that they had in 2016, just by defense and on-base numbers. If they can stay healthy, the sky is the limit for the O’s.

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Born in Norfolk, VA and raised Baltimore, MD. Currently a college student at the University of Baltimore and formerly the sports editor of McDaniel College. Also a former intern of PressBox Online in Baltimore.